Public drinking, fighting and other "anti-social behaviour" has turned a West Australian shopping centre into a "war zone", a Pilbara parliamentarian says.

West Australian upper house Labor MP, Stephen Dawson, whose office is located at South Hedland Square, says he has fielded many complaints from residents fed up with the violence and disruption.

Mr Dawson has fielded complaints of dogs wandering unaccompanied through the mall, as well as the growing presence of beggars.

Mr Dawson, the Legislative Council Member for Mining and Pastoral Regions, says he believes the situation has worsened since the centre underwent a $15 million revamp in which a taxi rank was relocated, forcing people to congregate at the entrance.

He says it is unacceptable for a modern suburban shopping centre to be marred by constant disorderly behaviour.

"Outside the shopping centre does look like a war zone on various days of the week," he said.

He continued: "It shouldn't happen. People should be able to shop in silence.

"We do see lots of anti-social behaviour. We do see lots of fighting and that shouldn't happen. Everybody has to come together to work out a solution how to fix it.

"We do tend to see dogs hanging around as well, and they do wander into the shopping centre and it's not appropriate."

Some residents have reportedly used social media to blame the troubles on Indigenous people, an assertion Mr Dawson dismisses.

"It's not just an Aboriginal issue," he said.

"We've all got to deal with the issue and stop the anti-social behaviour, because you get workers and you get Aboriginal and all sorts of people all fighting or screaming at each other outside the shops."

Port Hedland Mayor Kelly Howlett agrees that social media commentary should not place the blame for the issue at the feet of local Indigenous people.

"There's a lot of racism in our community, and I think that people need to be understanding and understand where people are coming from," she said.

"They can't just vent their frustration and blame one particular sector of the community."

Begging adds to volatile mix

Ms Howlett says the scene at the mall can be quite confronting on certain days.

"There's a number of issues that are culminating in a melting pot there in front of the South Hedland shopping centre," she said.

"Certainly, we're getting some of that disorderly behaviour as well as sometimes violent behaviour. We're getting a lot of begging as well.

"It does need all agencies and all sectors of the community to come on board and help resolve some of these issues."

Local police say they conduct 24-hour surveillance of the centre and regular patrols.

Senior Sergeant Mick Hayes, the officer in charge of South Hedland police station, says he is "disgusted" Mr Dawson has described the shopping centre as a war zone.

He says there are ongoing discussions between police, the town of Port Hedland and centre management about how to contain the issue.

Sergeant Hayes warns people that public drinking and disorderly conduct will result in offenders being locked up.